Portable toilet stall

Abstract

A portable toilet stall for a sanitary fixture has a floor, a roof above the floor, and a plurality of upright posts extending between the roof and the floor. At least one of the posts is hollow. A plurality of side wall panels are provided between the posts and also between the roof and the floor. There is a rinse-liquid tank inside the hollow support post and connected to the sanitary fixture.

Claims

1. A portable toilet stall for a sanitary fixture, the portable stall comprising: a floor; a roof above the floor; a plurality of upright posts extending between the roof and the floor, two of the posts being hollow; a plurality of side wall panels between the posts and also between the roof and the floor; a respective rinse-liquid tank formed inside each of the hollow support posts and each having an output connection and an outlet conduit connected to the sanitary fixture; and a coupling between the outlet conduits and the fixture for feeding liquid from both of the tanks to the fixture.

2. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, wherein the roof and floor are polygonal and have corners between which the posts extend.

3. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 2, wherein there are four of the posts.

4. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, further comprising: a vent fan inside one of the posts.

5. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, wherein each of the hollow support posts is hollow over at least 40% of its vertical length.

6. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1 wherein each rinse-liquid tank extends over only 10% to 90% of a length of the respective hollow support post.

7. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, wherein each rinse-liquid tank is formed in a lower portion of the respective hollow support post adjacent the floor.

8. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, wherein each output connection is provided generally at a lower end of the respective rinse-liquid tank or of the respective hollow corner post.

9. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, therein each rinse-liquid tank has at least one fill port accessible from inside the toilet stall and at an upper end of the rinse-liquid tank.

10. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, wherein each rinse-liquid tank has a capacity of between 10 L and 70 L.

11. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 1, further comprising an openable and closable door between the two hollow posts.

12. A portable toilet stall for a sanitary fixture, the portable stall comprising: a floor; a roof above the floor; a plurality of upright posts extending between the roof and the floor, two of the posts being hollow; a plurality of side wall panels between the posts and also between the roof and the floor; a respective rinse-liquid tank inside each of the hollow support posts, connected to the sanitary fixture, and each having an output connection connected to an outlet conduit, the output connection being provided generally at a lower end of the rinse-liquid tank or of the respective hollow corner post; and a coupling between the outlet conduits and the fixture for feeding liquid from both of the tanks to the fixture.

13. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 12, wherein the sanitary fixture is a toilet, a urinal, or a sink and is provided inside the toilet stall.

14. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 12, further comprising: a pump between the coupling and the fixture for conveying rinse liquid from the tank to the fixture.

15. A portable toilet stall for a sanitary fixture, the portable stall comprising: a floor; a roof above the floor; a plurality of upright posts extending between the roof and the floor, at least one of the posts being hollow; a plurality of side wall panels between the posts and also between the roof and the floor; a rinse-liquid tank inside the hollow support post, connected to the sanitary fixture, and having a fill port accessible from inside the toilet stall and at an upper end of the rinse-liquid tank; an internally threaded fitting at the fill port; and an externally threaded screw plug fittable into the fitting to block same.

16. The portable toilet stall defined in claim 15, wherein the screw plug is provided with an actuating formation facilitating screwing of the plug into and out of the fitting.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a small-scale perspective view of a toilet stall according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the toilet stall of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a detail view of a support or corner post of the stall; and

(5) FIGS. 4A and 4B are large-scale views of the details indicated at IVA and IVB in FIG. 3.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a toilet stall 4 according to the invention has a basically square floor 1, a basically square roof 2, and three side wall panels 3. A door 22 closes a fourth side. Four upright support or corner posts 7 extend vertically between corners of the floor 1 and of the roof 2 that are also interconnected by the side panels 3.

(7) The four corner posts 7 are each equipped at both ends with a projecting tenon 23 for connection to the floor 1 and to the roof 2. Preferably, both the floor 1 and the roof 2 each have at each corner a complementary mortise or groove 24 for receiving the respective tenon 23 of the corner post 7. This can be seen particularly in FIG. 2. The corner posts 7 are also provided with grooves 25 on their outer sides facing toward the side wall panels 3 for a similar tongue-and-groove connection with the outer edges of the side wall panels 3. In this way, three side wall panels 3 are connected to the corner posts 7 by tongue-and-groove connections. Moreover, the floor 1 and the roof 2 are preferably also provided on their edges abutting edges of the side wall panels 3 with a groove or recess in which the side wall panel 3 can engage. This is not shown in detail. A side wall panel 3 thus engages by a tongue-and-groove connection with its lower edge in the associated groove-type recess of the floor 1 and with its upper edge in a respective groove-type recess of the roof 2. As described, the side wall panels 3 engage with their outer edges in grooves 25 of the corner posts 7. It also lies within the scope of the invention for the corner posts 7 to be one-piece plastic parts in the direction of their vertical longitudinal extension.

(8) FIG. 1 shows that the toilet stall door 22 is advantageously provided on the front side of the toilet stall according to the invention, and this toilet stall door 22 is pivoted on one of corner posts 7 by unillustrated hinges. According to a preferred embodiment, a toilet bowl 12, a urinal 13, and a hand-washing sink 14 are provided in an interior 17 of the toilet stall 4.

(9) According to the invention, at least one support or corner post 7 of the toilet stall 4 is at least partially hollow to form a space 5, and at least one rinse-liquid tank 6 is provided in the space 5. The liquid that is provided in the rinse-liquid tank 6 is preferably rinse water or fresh water. Here according to the figures, four corner posts 7 are provided at the four corners of the toilet stall 4 and, preferably, all four corner posts 7 are hollow at least in some portions. Advantageously, a rinse-liquid tank 6 is provided in the interior 5 in two of the hollow corner posts 7. Very especially preferably, a respective rinse-liquid tank 6 is provided in the interior 5 in the two corner posts 7 that are provided on the front side next to the toilet stall door 22. Advantageously, a vent fan 8 is provided in the interior 5 in at least one other of the hollow corner posts 7. This is the corner post 7 opposite the door 22 and thus on the rear side of the toilet stall. The vent fan 8 can be embodied, for example, as an exhaust duct with an intake port 26 consisting of a plurality of perforations on the inside of respective post 7 and an opening (not shown in further detail) for venting the exhaust air away outside the toilet stall.

(10) Preferably, the hollow corner post 7 is hollow on the inside over at least 40% of its length L. It is recommended that the at least one rinse-liquid tank 6 extend over part of the length L of the hollow support or corner post 7. Preferably, the tank 6 extends over from 30% to 70% of the length L of the hollow corner post 7. Here according to the figures, the rinse-liquid tank 6 may extend over approximately 50% of the length L of the hollow support post. This can be seen particularly in FIG. 3. The rinse-liquid tank 6 is provided in a lower portion of the corner post 7 adjacent the floor 1.

(11) Preferably, the rinse-liquid tank 6 has an output connection 9 to which an outlet conduit 10 is connected. The output connection 9 is provided in the vicinity of the lower end of the rinse-liquid tank 6 or of the corner post 7. In this context, “lower end” refers particularly to the end of the rinse-liquid tank 6 or of the corner post 7 adjacent the floor 1. Advantageously, and here according to the figures, two of outlet conduits 10 of the two rinse-liquid tanks 6 that are present in the corner posts 7 are interconnected by a coupling 11, here a tee. The liquid from the two rinse-liquid tanks 6 can then flow via the output connections 9 and the outlet conduits 10 to the coupling 11 where the two rinse-liquid tanks are coupled together and flow can advantageously continue via a supply line 30.

(12) As described above, the toilet bowl 12, urinal 13, and sink 14 are provided in the toilet stall 4. These sanitary devices 12, 13, 14 are connected to the rinse-liquid tanks 6 via the outlet conduits 10 so that the sanitary devices 12, 13, 14 can be rinsed and/or supplied with liquid. At least one pump 15 for conveying the liquid is provided between the rinse-liquid tank 6 or the outlet conduits 10 of the rinse-liquid tank 6 and the sanitary devices 12, 13, 14. The pump 15 is provided downstream of the coupling 11 in the direction of flow of the liquid, so that the pump 15 conveys the liquid from both rinse-liquid tanks 6. This is shown schematically in FIG. 2. The combined liquid can then flow to the individual sanitary devices 12, 13, 14 and supply these sanitary devices with liquid, particularly rinse water or fresh water.

(13) Preferably, the rinse-liquid tanks 6 each have a fill port 16, accessible from the interior 17 of the toilet stall 4. Recommendably, the fill port 16 is also provided in the vicinity of the upper end of each rinse-liquid tank 6. Advantageously, the horizontal cross-sectional area of a corner post 7 that is provided with a rinse-liquid tank 6 is larger in the vicinity of the rinse-liquid tank 6 than in the region of the corner post 7 that does not have the rinse-liquid tank 6. The rinse-liquid tank 6 then advantageously has on its upper side a final top surface 27, and the fill port 16 is provided in or on this top surface 27.

(14) Advantageously, the fill port 16 can be closed by a closure element formed as a screw plug 18 with a lid 19 and a fitting 20. The fitting 20 is attached by screws to the corner posts 7. Preferably, the closure plug 18 has an external thread that interacts with a complementary internal thread of the fitting 20 when the screw plug 18 is closed. In order to open or close the screw plug 18, the closure lid 19 is thus unscrewed from the fitting 20 or screwed into the fitting 20. It is recommended that the closure lid 19 of the screw plug 18 have an actuating formation 21 for opening and closing the screw plug 18. Here, the actuating formation 21 is a cross groove with two longitudinal grooves that are mutually offset by 90°. The closure lid 19 can then be unscrewed from the fitting 20 by an opening tool, such as a Phillips-head screwdriver or the like, or screwed into the fitting 20.

(15) In the context of the invention, in addition to the outlet connection 9, another outlet connection 28 is provided on the underside of a corner post 7 that is provided with a rinse-liquid tank 6 adjacent the floor 1 via which residual water, for example, can be drained from the rinse-liquid tank 6, advantageously via a valve.

(16) Very especially preferably, the toilet stall 4 the toilet stall door 22 on its front side, with two front corner posts 7 being provided on the front side next to the door 22, and with a rinse-liquid tank 6 being provided in each of these front posts 7. It lies within the scope of the invention for a rinse-liquid tank 6 to have a capacity of between 10 L and 70 L, preferably between 15 L and 60 L, and especially preferably between 30 L and 55 L. Preferably, the two rinse-liquid tanks 6 of the corner posts 7 that are advantageously provided on the front side of the toilet stall have the same capacity or substantially the same capacity and this capacity may be between 40 and 50 L.

(17) According to a preferred embodiment, a solar panel 29 is mounted on the upper surface of the roof 2 of the toilet stall 4. For example, the pump 15 of the toilet stall 4 can be powered by the solar panel 29, and, in addition or alternatively, the vent fan 8 can be powered by the solar panel 29. In principle, the solar panel 29 can also supply other electrical functional devices with power that are provided in the toilet stall 4 or that are provided inside one of the hollow support corner posts 7 of the toilet stall 4.